Vito "thesuitbig29" Distefano Wins Event #6: $800 NLH Ultra Deepstack ($57,355)
It took just over eight hours for Vito "thesuitbig29" Distefano to overcome a 393-player field and claim his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet in Online Event #6: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Ultra Deepstack. Distefano defeated Michael "stiltwalk" Mercaldo heads-up and took home $57,355 for his efforts.
Distefano is a regular WSOP.com grinder and just recently cashed in Event #2: $500 No Limit Hold'em - MonsterStack. Today's victory marks a career-high online score for Distefano, who will add to his $366,439 in previous tournament earnings.
Players began the day with over 1,000 big blinds, but as a result of the event's turbo-like structure, eliminations came fast and furious. It took approximately six hours to go from 393 entries (including 119 rebuys) to 48 players and burst the money bubble. From that point, the field dwindled to fewer than 15 players just one hour after the money bubble burst.
Notables who managed to cash include Jesse "Dangerous22" Lonis (42nd - $2,009), former Main Event Champion Ryan "BitC0in" Riess (30th - $2,065), and WPT Commentator Tony "Panoramic" Dunst (17th - $2,235).
Online Event #6: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Ultra Deepstack Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vito "thesuitbig29" Distefano | United States | $57,355 |
| 2 | Michael "stiltwalk" Mercaldo | United States | $41,453 |
| 3 | Michael "MMenz08816" Menzer | United States | $30,135 |
| 4 | "deadmoney88" | United States | $21,816 |
| 5 | William "Hutch" Hutchinson | United States | $15,817 |
| 6 | John "Slapshot1085" Forlenza | United States | $11,544 |
| 7 | "banderson0" | United States | $8,432 |
| 8 | Katie "katelin" Lindsay | United States | $6,196 |
| 9 | Kevin "Samiam5" Lemmer | United States | $4,555 |
The final table began with an average stack of just about 25 big blinds and Mercaldo in the chip lead. As expected, the shorter stacks fell in short order, with Mercaldo responsible for five final-table eliminations.
Mercaldo was able to enter head-ups with an almost 5-1 chip lead, thanks largely to his eliminations of "deadmoney88" (4th place - $21,816) and Michael "MMenz08816" Menzer (3rd place - $30,135).
Heads-up looked to be short with the big chip disadvantage for Distefano but after a few double ups in a row the rolls reversed and Distefano found himself in the drivers seat. The final hand came when Distefano moved all in with ace-ten and was called by Mercaldo with queen-ten. The board did not improve Mercaldo as he finished in runner-up position and Distefano scored WSOP gold.
That's a wrap here at Event #6: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Ultra Deepstack. Be sure to stick with PokerNews as we continue to bring you full coverage of this series on WSOP.com!